One Good Thing

From the New York Times– bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones, an unforgettable story of hardship and hope, courage and resilience,   that follows one young woman’ s journey through war-torn Italy

1940, Emilia Romagna. Lili and Esti have been best friends since meeting at the University of Ferrara; when Esti’ s son Theo is born,   they become as close as sisters.   There is a war being fought across borders, and in Italy, Mussolini’ s Racial Laws have deemed Lili and Esti descendants of an ‘ inferior’ Jewish race, but life somehow goes on— until Germany invades northern Italy,   and the friends find themselves in occupied territory.

Esti,   older and fiercely self-assured,   convinces Lili to flee  first  to a  villa  in  the countryside to help hide a group of young  war orphans,   then to a convent in Florence, where they pose as nuns and forge false  identification papers  for  the Underground. When disaster strikes at the convent,   a critically wounded Esti asks Lili to take a much bigger step:  To go  on the run with Theo. Protect him while Esti can’ t.

Terrified to travel  on her own, Lili sets out on  an epic  journey  south toward Allied territory, through Nazi-occupied villages and bombed-out cities,   doing everything she can to keep Theo safe.

A  remarkable  tale of  friendship, motherhood, and survival, One Good Thing is a tender reminder that  love for another person, even amidst darkness and uncertainty, can be reason to keep going.